1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a beach-cleaning system and method. The system includes a trailer which is loaded with, and which collectively carries a plurality of beach-cleaning apparatus for collecting litter from sandy beach areas, and a collection station in which the litter collected by the beach cleaner is accumulated. More particularly, the present invention relates a system and method for separating litter of various sizes and shapes from sand, and to a trailer incorporating the system.
2. Description of the Background Art
There is a known beach cleaner for collecting various kinds of litter scattered on the sandy beach areas, such as bathing beaches. When towed by a vehicle, during operation thereof, the beach cleaner travels on the sands of the beach to rake the sand and litter together, and collect only the litter by separating the litter from the sand. Further, when towed by the vehicle, the beach cleaner carries the litter collected thereby to a collection station, and operations for moving out the litter form a trailer are performed at the collection station.
The known trailer for beach cleaning is towed by a vehicle. The trailer has an accommodation portion, which is loaded with the beach cleaner and the collection station, and is used to collectively carry them to the beach. The trailer is also used as a part of the collection station (see, for example, the Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-303087).
However, conventionally there has not been a trailer, as the one described above, which is used for collecting litter, and also for separating the collected litter from accompanying sand.
The known beach cleaner and the collection station offer advantages for collecting litter on sandy beach areas where the vehicle can travel. However, such beach-cleaning equipment and collection stations cannot perform the litter collection on areas where the vehicle cannot travel, such as sandy areas with large rocks. On such areas, litter has to be collected through a manual separation of litter from sand.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances. Accordingly it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a beach-cleaning trailer which allows easy collection (and separation) of litter even on areas where the beach cleaner towed by a vehicle cannot be used to collect the litter without collecting sand therewith.